ISTANBUL, (Xinhua) — A convergence of development strategies has offered rare opportunities for China and Turkey to build an all-round and deeper relationship, Chinese Ambassador to Turkey Yu Hongyang said here on Friday.

Addressing a forum on China’s “Belt and Road initiative,” Yu noted that since it was first broached by Chinese President Xi Jinping more than two years before, the initiative has produced initial momentum and effect by garnering a positive response and broad participation from more than 60 countries along the way.

The “Belt and Road initiative,” also known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road initiative, promotes connectivity and cooperation among countries involved.

Turkey, a country linking Asia and Europe, has launched its own Middle Corridor Initiative seeking a modern revival of the ancient Silk Road, which started from China and ended in Turkey.

“With so high a convergence of development strategies by both sides, rare opportunities have arisen for the two countries to build an all-round and deeper relationship,” said Yu.

The forum, which brought together Turkish and Chinese business people as well as renowned academicians, focused on ways to understand and do business with China.

Iraz Turhan Alvaran, representative to Beijing for the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen Association, highlighted infrastructure, finance, automobile, textile, tourism, e-commerce and agriculture as potential areas for investment as the trade between Turkey and China is growing.